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Saturday, October 16, 2010

Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite


Where I live bed bugs are becoming quite the problem. Like most hysteria type things that the news hypes, I ignore. But someone I know is infested now from acquiring used furniture. See bed bugs aren't just for beds. They can be in shoes, stuffed animals, mirrors, nightstands, dressers and even photo frames.

It will cost this family $1600 to get rid of the bed bugs and that's with a small infestion. The exterminator told them to not even go to garage sales or thrift stores.

Not go to garage sales or thrift stores? That's a life not worth living!  :o)

 You can actually get bed bugs from hotels, restaurants, and even department stores. Even our city buildings think they have bed bugs right now. The infestation is so bad because the bugs became immune to how we were exterminating them.

So what do you do?

It helps if you keep really large Ziplock bags in your car when garage saling. Let's say you buy a cute baby outfit at a garage sale. Put it directly in the Ziplock bag and do not take out until you are ready to launder it in HOT water and the HOTTEST dryer setting you have for at least 30 mins.

Personally I would not buy any used mattresses, box springs or headboards. If you buy a night stand or dresser, inspect carefully in drawers, corners and crevices for bed bugs. Bed bugs are reddish-brown, their eggs are white, their skins they shed are yellow, and you will see black fecal dots. But be forewarned, the people that I know checked over their furniture carefully and cleaned it before bringing it into their house. They also knew the people that the furniture came from.

Are you itching and scratching yet?

Be careful buying purses, tote bags and backpacks. Shake them out, turn them inside out and check carefully. If it's the type of bag that can be washed, put it in your Ziplock bag and wash on high heat when you get home.

Tip when traveling. Do not put your suitcases on the bed or store your clothes in the dressers. It may look crazy but I would store your luggage in the kitchen (bed bugs don't really go in there) on the kitchen counters... so it's off the floor!

Do you worry about getting bed bugs from your thrift and garage sale purchases? Do you do anything to protect yourself?

10 comments:

  1. Thanks for the tips. Ugh! I am already itching!! I'm paranoid as it is anyway. :)

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  2. My goodness you got me itching all over. I try not to think about it when traveling, but you sure got me thinking now.

    I am following your from Spotlight Saturday. Have a wonderful weekend.

    www.dailyorganizedchaos.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello! Following you from Saturday Stalk blog hop! Please visit and enter my FOSSIL WATCH giveaway!

    www.couponmamacita.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. ick...that's just nasty! Thanks for the tips!

    I am a new follower from The Baby Bottom Line. Hope you can return the follow.

    Katie
    http://diaryofmomma00.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. That is so gross! UCK!!!

    Stopping by from Pink Dandy Blog Hop. I'm fa new follower, hope you can stop by and follow back. Thanks!

    http://chalkboardstostrollers.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  6. The "worst" part is that the bugs can live for a year without feeding. I had them when I moved into a new/old apartment. The previous tenant had them and didn't tell anyone, so when I moved in, they attacked. Luckily my landlord took care of the problem for us, but it's not something I'd want to repeat!

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  7. That's exact Jenn! Getting rid of bed bugs can be easier than you think. I found the steps listed on the site www.sosbedbugs.org which allowed me to completely eliminate bed bugs from my house.

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  8. interesting article here..Pest prevention is more than just a mere “person with poison.” It’s an art, carefully fused with science then masterfully crafted, cultivating Pest Prevention, Perfected..Bed Bugs Phoenix

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  10. I think I may have bed bugs because every night I go to sleep and in the morning wake up with a new bite and it just started this week I am extremely scared to look under my sheets.So Keep up the wonderful work and if you want more info about this topic then visit here.

    ReplyDelete

 
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